Quarantine
by sharstar84
Summary: A nasty flu bug keeps Jack, Bobby and Demetrius away from the bullpen with some time to think. Can the rest of them solve the case without them?
1. Chapter 1

Lucy Dotson put the phone on hold and called out from her desk, "Guys, I've got Howie on line one. Anyone want to take it?"

Jack, Bobby and D looked at each other. Bobby rolled his eyes. No one wanted to deal with Howie. He had helped them get a few guys they wanted, but it always caused extra stress and annoyance since he talked continuously even when he was undercover with them. They never knew what he would do next and the fact that he was calling them meant that their next few days could be either full of excitement or ones they would dread.

After a few seconds, Jack spoke up as he put his hands up in surrender.

"Hey, he's Sue's snitch. Levi?" He motioned for Levi to get Sue's attention. He pawed her leg and Sue looked up to meet Jack's eyes.

"Howie's on the phone," he told her. Sue sighed. Jack grinned as she pulled over her microphone and opened up her computer program.

"Howie? It's Sue."

Across the screen came the words:

_Hey, Sue. How are you?_

"I'm fine. What's up?"

_I think I've got something for ya._

"It better be good."

_It should be. A friend of mine has stumbled across something he thinks is explosives. Maybe dynamite. _

"Dynamite's not illegal."

_I know. But it was all made up like someone might use to strap onto themselves to blow themselves up._

"You mean like a suicide bomber?"

Hearing her conversation, Jack got up to from his desk as Demetrius leaned forward from his desk.

_Maybe. I don't know. It could be nothing. But I'm supposed to tell you guys what I see, right?_

Jack started waving his finger, signing 'where'.

"We'll see what we can do. Where did your friend find this stuff?" asked Sue, seeing Jack signing to her.

_It was in an old warehouse off Maryland Avenue. He just saw it through the window but he said it looked like a lot._

"We'll look into it. Thanks, Howie. Bye," said Sue, looking over to see Jack and D standings beside her desk.

"What's he got?" D asked Sue.

"He has a friend who thought he saw some dynamite in an old warehouse tied together like a suicide bomb. Anyone want to go with me to take a look?"

Jack looked over to Bobby and asked, "Crash, you want to come with us and take a look at some explosives?"

Bobby nodded as he got his coat and joined Jack, Sue and Levi as they went to the elevator.

Later that day, they filled each other in on what they had found out.

"It looks like Howie was right. It could be used for suicide bombers by the way they were all strapped together," said Bobby.

"Forensics checked it out. Prints matched to a Marc Nelson," said Tara.

"One guy made all of it?" asked Lucy, surprised.

"Looks like it. They could only find one set of prints. But someone else could have helped but used gloves," said Tara.

"Tara, see what else you can get on Nelson. You have his address?" asked Jack.

"Yep," said Tara as she scribbled it down on a piece of paper and gave it to Jack.

"Thanks. Bobby?" said Jack, looking to his friend.

"Right with you, mate."

Jack and Bobby pulled up to a fairly small duplex and got out. They knocked on the door and waited. Finally, a woman about in her thirties appeared at the door.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

Bobby felt inside his coat for his badge. "Mrs. Nelson?"

"Yes?"

He flashed his badge. "FBI. Can we come in?"

Mrs. Nelson welcomed them inside. "Is there a problem?"

"Are you married, Mrs. Nelson?" asked Jack.

"Yes. My husband's name is Marc."

"Have you seen him today?" asked Jack.

"I saw him when he left for work this morning."

As she answered, they heard what sounded like someone throwing up coming from upstairs.

"I'm sorry. That's Miriam. She's been home sick all day. So has Max."

"We'll make this quick," said Jack. "Have you suspected your husband of any unusual activities or has he been seeing people you're unsure about at all?"

"No. What's this about?"

"His name has come up in one of our investigations. We're just checking things out. If you suspect anything or anyone, please call us. OK?" asked Jack, standing up.

"OK. I really should be getting back to my kids," said Mrs. Nelson.

"Well, thanks for your time anyways," said Jack. Mrs. Nelson showed them out and the two agents went to Jack's car. As they started driving, Bobby asked, "What do you think?"

"I don't know. Just because she says she doesn't know anything about the bombs doesn't means she isn't lying," said Jack.

"You mean, she could know?"

"She seemed in a big hurry. Maybe trying to avoid the subject," said Jack, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Well, you heard her, Sparky, her kids were sick."

"I suppose kids can keep your attention away from a bomb-making husband."


	2. Chapter 2

As Jack and Bobby got back to the FBI building parking lot, Bobby started rubbing his stomach. He looked down at his watch which read 5:15.

"Oh my, I told Darcy I'd meet her for dinner so I'd better go. I hope I can eat. My stomach's not feeling so good all of a sudden."

"You going to be OK? You sure it's not the Mexican from lunch?" asked Jack.

"No, but I'm going to go anyways. I'll see you tomorrow," said Bobby, getting out of the car to walk to his own car.

The next morning around 11:00, Garrett came into the bullpen, looking around.

"Lucy? Where's Bobby?" he asked the rotor.

Lucy looked up. "Uh, he hasn't been here all morning. Jack said he wasn't feeling well yesterday. He's not answering his phone."

"Well, maybe someone should go check on him a bit later," said their supervisor.

Lucy nodded as Ted went over to talk to Demetrius.

"Demetrius? What did you find out about the case?"

"Our suspected bomb-maker's wife gave us the names of a couple of his friends. But she said she didn't know about the bombs at all," D filled him in.

"That's a good start. Keep at it," Ted said, turning to leave.

As Garrett walks away, Jack tried Bobby's numbers again. He comes up with nothing.

"Hey, D! You want to pay Bobby a visit and get some lunch, too?" asked Jack.

"I wouldn't miss it! Let's go!" said D as he and Jack grabbed their coats and ran out of the bullpen.

Lucy smiled as the two agents left. Her eyes drifted over to Sue, who was absorbed into a phone conversation. Lucy finished up what she was doing and then went over to Sue's desk and touched her shoulder.

"Oh, hey," said Sue, looking around. "Where is everyone?"

Lucy smiled. She wondered sometimes how lost she would feel not hearing what was going on around her. "Jack and D went to see Bobby. Did you know Garrett was in here?"

"No. Why was he here?"

"He was just checking up on the case. Who was on the phone?"

Sue sighed. "Howie. He seemed happy that his hunch was right and that we'll be taking care of whoever's responsible. I said we'd let him know if we needed him. I still wonder about him sometimes, though."

Lucy smiled then looked around to see Myles and Tara working quietly at their desk, before going back to her own desk. "I can't believe how quiet it is around here," she thought to herself.

Jack and D arrived at Bobby's place and rang the doorbell. When no one answered Jack got out his lock pick (see the episode "Diplomatic Immunity") and they opened the door.

"I feel like a criminal," said D, embarrassed.

Jack smiled as they went inside.

"Hey! Who's there? I have a gun!" Bobby called out.

"Easy, Crash. Just me and D," Jack called back. They went into his room.

"Came to see if you were still alive since you didn't answer your phones," said D.

"You look awful," said Jack, seeing his friend's pale face and messy hair.

Bobby looked back into Jack's face. "You know how I wasn't feeling too great yesterday?" Jack nodded. "I didn't end up eating a lot with Darcy. I came home and conked out on the bed here until about 11 then I woke up and started feeling really sick. Finally barfed around 2 am and haven't stopped." Bobby had barely finished his sentence when he leaned over the side of his bed attempting to throw up in a garbage can beside his bed. Jack took a step back.

"Whoa, keep away from me."

"Here, I'll clean that up for you," said Demetrius as he left with the garbage can.

When he came back, Jack said, "How can you even stand that?"

"Hey, compared to changing dirty diapers, it's nothing," said D.

"Sparky?" asked Bobby.

"Yeah?"

"You don't think I got sick from going to Nelson's house yesterday, do you?"

"With the sick kids? Well, I was there too, remember? I'm not sick," said Jack.

"Yet," added D. Jack looked at him as if to say, "Don't you jinx it."

"Well, everyone else sends their get well wishes. Get some rest. You got your phone on now in case we need to call?" asked Jack. Bobby reached over to flip on the ringer on the phone beside his bed.

"D? You get me some water before you go, mate?" asked Bobby. D got a glass of water from the kitchen and brought it to him before they left.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack and D were driving back to the bullpen when they were interrupted by D's cell going off.

"Gans. OK. We're on our way," he said, then turned to Jack. "Tara's got an address for Nelson's friends." D gave Jack the address as Jack turned the corner. When they got to the address, they parked and got out. When they knocked on the door, one of the friends came to the door. Jack showed him a picture of Marc Nelson and asked if he knew him.

"Yeah, we work out at the gym together sometimes," the guy replied.

Jack and D continued to talk to the guy. They managed to get him to tell him where this gym was and more information about the gym. They went there and found out the names of people Marc Nelson regularly works out with.

That afternoon, Jack and D filled Tara, Myles, Luc and Sue in on what they'd found out.

"I looked up the names they'd found. None of them came up on the computer except one. One came up as being in a gang," said Tara.

"Would he be able to get Nelson the dynamite?" asked Sue.

"Possibly. But he'd be more likely to steal it," said Jack.

Their conversation was interrupted by Howie appearing in the doorway.

"Hi, Howie! What's up? I said we'd let you know if anything else develops," said Sue, when Levi informed her of Howie's presence.

"Well, you know me. I have to do my part. I've got a tape of Nelson. I followed him to the warehouse, where he met a friend. I think you'll find it interesting."

"I'm sure we will. Thanks, Howie," said Sue.

"I've got to go, but I just thought I'd drop it off," said Howie, turning to leave.

The next morning around 8:30 am, Lucy answered the phone in the bullpen.

"Rotor,"

"Lucy? This is Donna."

"Hey, Donna, what's up?" asked Lucy.

"I'm afraid something's wrong with D. He's come down with some sort of flu or something. He won't be coming into work today," said Donna.

"That's too bad. I'll be sure to tell everyone. I hope he gets better soon," said Lucy.

"Lucy?" asked Donna, just as Lucy was about to hang up.

"Yeah?"

"D mentioned that he and Jack went to visit Bobby yesterday. I'm thinking maybe Bobby's contagious, so if Jack comes to work…"

"I'll call Jack. Thanks for calling."

Lucy hung up the phone then called Jack's cell number.

"This is Jack," came the reply.

"Jack, it's Lucy. Have you left yet?" asked Lucy.

"No, I'm just leaving. There a problem?"

"Yeah, you need to stay home today."

"WHAT!" Jack almost screamed into the phone. "What's going on?"

"I know it sounds nuts, but just listen. D's sick. You guys both went to see Bobby yesterday and we think Bobby's contagious. We don't want you getting us all sick," said Lucy, smiling at Jack's reaction.

"OK. You'll tell Garrett? Maybe he'll send someone in to help with the case."

"Alright. Try not to get sick, OK? Take it easy today," said Lucy.

"Mhmm – uh, Luce, have someone send me files or anything I can do to help," said Jack, sitting down as he was still in shock a bit.

"OK," said Lucy as they both hung up their phones.

Lucy walked over to Sue and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Everyone, listen up. It's just us today. D's sick and Jack's staying home so we don't all get sick, since both he and D went to visit Bobby yesterday," Lucy told everyone.

Tara smiled and said, "Well, then, should be a quiet day."

"Can you come with me to Garrett's office?" asked Lucy to Sue.

Sue nodded as they got up to leave.

At Jack's place, he sat down on the couch, stunned. He felt lost and helpless. He turned on the TV, flipped through a few channels for a bit, then decided he might as well do something useful and went to wash the dishes he'd left from breakfast. But as he turned on the water, his thoughts turned toward Sue. He tried to imagine what it would be like not to hear the water running. He thought more about Sue and how life must be so different for her. But it wasn't long before his thoughts drifted towards more than just logistics but towards what it might be like to live with her or even to be married to her. Did he really love her or just admire her determination and courage? However, his thoughts were disrupted by the water soaking his shirt. He realized he'd let the whole sink fill with water so he turned the water off and finished the dishes. When he was done, he turned on his computer. Seeing that Tara hadn't sent him anything yet, he decided to pick up the phone and see how Bobby was doing.

"Hello?" Bobby groggily answered.

"I'm glad you decided to actually answer this time. How are you feeling?" asked Jack.

"A bit better, thanks. I think I'm done throwing up. Hey, are you at home?" asked Bobby, noticing the background of the call was quiet.

"Yeah, apparently D's sick, too, so since we both came to visit you and he got sick, I could pass on the germs to the rest of them. So I'm here."

"Wow, Sparky, I'm that bad, eh?"

"Well…"

"Whatever. You bored yet?"

"Not yet, but it probably won't take too long. It's pretty quiet around here," said Jack.

"Well, now you can relate to someone else we know," commented Bobby.

"I was thinking about that, earlier, actually. I can't even imagine what it would be like: not hearing water running, phone ringing, or even people walking."

"She's never known anything else, though."

"That's true. Well, get some rest. Hopefully, things can get back to normal soon," said Jack, trying to bring his thoughts back to reality.

"Hope so, too. See ya.

"See ya."


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: The only character I own is Rick Tulloch (new this chapter).

A while later, Ted Garrett, Lucy and Sue came back into the bullpen. Sue positioned herself so she could see Garrett clearly.

"Listen up, everyone. I have an announcement. I'm not sure how much you've been informed of our situation here."

"Not much," said Myles, impatiently. Garrett looked at him harshly for being interrupted. "Well, here's the deal. Bobby and Demetrius are home sick. We're hoping it's not too serious and whatever bug they have will go away soon. Jack's been told to stay home since he's been in contact with both Bobby and Demetrius," said Ted.

Myles stared at Garrett in disbelief. Seeing his expression, Garrett said, "Just be thankful it's not you, Myles. By the sounds of this bug, if you get it, it gets you good. Anyways, my announcement is that since 3 of our agents are out of commission for a while, I've requested assistance from the Baltimore office. His name is Rick Tulloch and he's on his way over. Let's all try to make him feel welcome and hopefully he can help us solve this case quickly."

As Garrett left, everyone looked at each other for a minute, then got back to work.

Donna went into their bedroom to see D open his eyes for the first time in a few hours. He still looked a bit pale.

"Hey, handsome," she said, kissing his forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"I don't know," he said. "What time is it?"

"10:30. But you're not going anywhere. How's your stomach?" asked Donna. But she'd barely asked the question when D leaned over and proceeded to throw up again.

"Well, I guess that answered my question."

D leaned back on his pillow and closed his eyes.

Tara, Sue, Lucy and Myles were trying to work when Rick showed up in the doorway. He stood there for a moment, then a sneeze creeps up on him. Everyone looked up and stared at him except Sue, who was heading towards her computer and didn't see him there.

"Don't tell me you're getting sick, too. You must be Rick," said Lucy.

"Yeah, I've been assigned to help your unit," said Rick, as Levi came over to Rick.

"What's this thing doing here?" he asked, as he sneezes again.

"That's Levi," said Tara.

Myles came over from his desk and said, "The Wonderdog." Rick looked confused so Myles walked over to Rick. Pointing to Sue, he said, "That's Sue. She's deaf. She reads lips, which is a huge advantage for our surveillance team, but that's not the point. Levi here is her hearing dog." Myles walked back over to his desk, looking pleased he got all the facts straight.

"Well, that's wonderful. They must have forgotten to mention that little fact," he said as he sneezed again. "I'm allergic to dogs."


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Again I do not own any of the characters.

Sue finished her transcript of the tape Howie had given them and was about to get up to take it to Myles when she noticed Rick sitting at Bobby's desk.

"You must be Rick," said Sue, going over to introduce herself. Of course, Levi followed.

But this only made Rick sneeze again.

"I'm sorry…achoo!... your furry friend… achoo!… or service animal… whatever… is going to be a … ahhh-choooo!... problem."

Sue shot a confused looked over to Lucy, who got up and walked over to Sue and Rick.

"Rick's allergic to dogs," said Lucy.

Sue looked surprised then decided it was better to solve the problem than to make a big deal out of it since they needed to solve this case and they were already playing short-handed.

"Really? Well then, I guess I'll just have to find Levi another home for a couple of days until you go back to Baltimore, then," said Sue. Levi gave Sue a puppy look and headed under Sue's desk. Sue and Lucy smiled.

"Thanks, I'd appreciate that," said Rick, reaching for a Kleenex to blow his nose.

A short time later, Garrett appeared to make sure Rick was fitting in. He was by Myles' desk while Myles was filling him in on the details of the case. Seeing Garrett there, Myles looked up.

"I see everything's working out," said Ted.

"Yes, sir," said Rick. "I'm always happy to help."

Garrett smiled. "Let's just make sure nothing happens with this dynamite."

When Garrett had left, Sue signed to Lucy, 'What am I going to do?'

Lucy signed back, 'About Levi?' Sue nodded.

'Maybe we can take him to Charlie.'

Sue shook her head. 'Remember what happened last time. Not a good idea.' The last time she'd taken Levi to Charlie's, he was on sedatives, but that morning he didn't get it and ended up running away.

Sue and Lucy looked at each other simultaneously said, "Jack!"

Everyone else looked up. "What?"

Lucy and Sue looked at each other and laughed.

Just then, Tara motioned Lucy and Sue over to her computer.

"You'll never believe this but I think Jack just heard his name. He's on my webcam!"

Jack waved.

_JH: Hey there ladies!_

Lucy and Sue just looked at the screen in amazement.

_Lola: Hey, Jack. We had an idea. Since our new guy, Rick, and Myles are clueless about ASL, we could sign back and forth. Something fun to do. _

_JH: I'm not busy!_

Sue (signing): Ha Ha!

During their conversation, they discussed Rick; Levi's situation in which Jack agreed to take Levi; Bobby and D, and then finally the case. Then they waved good-bye.

"All right, girls, enough with the coded messages. Could everyone please come over here and do some real work?" said Myles, when he figured he and Rick had figured something out.

"We'll be right there," said Tara, as she, Lucy and Sue made their way over to Myles and Rick.

"We've identified Nelson's friend, who's dropped off more dynamite to the warehouse since we've been there, according the video. Sue, you need to go with Rick to talk to him, if he's home. We need to find Nelson, and hope he hasn't taken the dynamite and already blown himself or anyone else up. I'm going to go to the warehouse and then to Nelson's house to see if he's there or if his wife knows where he is," said Myles, but as he finished, his face started to get red as he was frustrated with everything.

"I just wish…" he started. Lucy cut him off by saying, "Just say it, Myles. You wish people weren't so stupid?"  
Myles took a breath. "No, people are always going to be stupid. I wish… Jack, Bobby and D were here."

Sue and Rick went to talk to the guy from the video at his house. After questioning him for a while, he finally confessed.

"Alright, I stole the dynamite from a construction company. Marc was paying me to steal it then drop it off at the warehouse. I have no idea what's he's planning to do with it or where he is," he said.

"Alright, but you still need to come with us," said Rick, pulling out the handcuffs. "You're under arrest for theft."

Meanwhile, Myles went to the Nelson home. Mysteriously, there was no one home, so Myles went to his car and headed to the warehouse.

At the bullpen, right after Sue, Rick and Myles left, Lucy sat at her desk thinking. Before long, she went over to Tara's desk.

"Tara, we need to do something."

"What, you want me to go find Myles and help him?" asked Tara.

"Well, if we need to. But, I'm thinking if something happens in that warehouse, we may need you here in the command center."

Tara looked confused. "What are you saying?"  
"I'm saying we need to get Jack or Bobby back here."

"You think Bobby's well enough?"

"There's only one way to find out," said Lucy. "I'll call Jack."

Tara had already started dialing Bobby's number as Lucy went over to her desk to call Jack.

"Bobby, how are you doing?" asked Tara.

"OK. What's up?" asked Bobby. Tara thought he sounded better.

"We need a favour."

"What's going on?" asked Bobby, suspecting it had something to do with a case.

"Do you think you're up to helping with the case? As in, actually going out into the field?"

"I think I could probably handle it."

"Myles needs your help," said Tara.

"Now I think I'm the one who's deaf."

"I'm serious. Myles, Sue and the new guy, Rick, are out right now, but they need you to help. We're pretty sure Nelson's going to blow himself up in an old warehouse."

"OK. I'll be right there," said Bobby, going to hang up, but he heard Tara's voice again.

"Wait, come by here first. We're not exactly sure the status yet."

They hung up, and Lucy came over to Tara to give her a high five.

"Jack said he'll be right over. I wasn't surprised when he said he'd be more than happy to help. I'd say he's probably bored out of his mind."

Tara smiled when the phone rang. Myles was on his cell, out of breath. "Guys, we have a problem. Nelson's got his family in the warehouse. I'm just outside it right now and I can see inside. He's wired with a timer on his belt. It says 10 minutes and it's already going. He wants to take all of them with him."

Tara tried to keep things under control. "Myles, it's OK. We've called Bobby and Jack and they're on their way. I'll call Rick and tell him to head over there, too. You think you can distract him so the family can get out?

"I'll try," said Myles, hanging up the phone and trying to see what he could from outside the warehouse.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own any of the characters except for Rick Tulloch, the one I made up.

Within 5 minutes, Bobby had come. Jack came a few minutes later. Tara told them what had happened, they had called the bomb squad and Rick and Sue, and their team was assembled to go to the warehouse. When they arrived, Myles and Jack started calmly talking to the man, trying to distract him, but he seemed firmly focused on his family, convinced he would take them with him when the bomb went off. Bobby led the bomb squad in through the door to which Nelson was closest. "FBI, turn around," Bobby yelled through his mask. Nelson only started walking towards Myles and Jack. Bobby motioned for 3 of the squad members to go around to Myles' side. Myles backed out of the way while Jack said some comforting words to the family then got himself out of there as well. When Nelson kept walking closer to where Myles had been standing, which was also closer to his family, Bobby and 2 other squad members pinned him to the ground. Meanwhile, Sue, who was in the van with Tara and Rick, had been watching the whole thing with binoculars and happened to see the bomb numbers getting to 20 seconds. She told Tara there was only 20 seconds left, who relayed this to Bobby. "Keep him pinned down," yelled Bobby, through his mask. He grabbed the front of the bomb pack and proceeded to stop the timer. "We're clear," he said into his microphone. All the FBI came into the warehouse and got the family out safely. Bobby put the handcuffs on Marc Nelson and led him outside.

Later, they all gathered in the bullpen, but Bobby looked exhausted. He held his head down in his hands and was trying to breathe normally. Finally, after a few minutes, he lifted his head up and said, "I think I need to go back home."

"Well, before you do, let me just say thank you. I'm serious when I say; we couldn't have done it without you."

Bobby tried to smile a bit and said, "Thanks. But, I need to get home. I probably shouldn't have even driven here. Can I get a ride, Lucy?"

"Sure," said Lucy.

The next day, D talked to Jack on the phone.

"Are you serious?" asked D, when Jack told him he'd been in quarantine.

"Yeah, you and I went to visit Bobby and then you got sick, so they figured I could catch the bug, too. How are you doing, by the way?" asked Jack.

"A lot better, thanks. I slept until about 4:00 then once the kids got home I could hardly keep my eyes closed. They were pretty excited I was at least home, even if I was sick."

"Sounds fun. Hey, by the way, we got Nelson. Bobby and I went and helped the new guy, Rick. He had his family in a warehouse and was going to blow up the whole place. But thanks to Bobby and the bomb boys, the family's going to be fine."

D chuckled and said, "Our hero. Well, I don't know if I'll be in tomorrow. I'll play it by ear. Have a good night, though."

"Yeah, take it easy. Hey, was that Donna I heard?" asked Jack, hearing someone calling D's name.

"Yeah, dinner's ready. I'm going to try and eat some. So, I'd better go," said D.

"OK, see ya later," said Jack, hanging up the phone.

A few days later, everyone was back, feeling better. They had just finished up the paperwork on the case and were having a little going away party for Rick. They were all mingling and talking when Myles tapped his pen on his coffee mug. Levi barked. Everyone looked over to Myles and Lucy who was talking to Sue, motioned over to Myles' direction. "Thanks buddy," he said to Levi. "This party is for Rick, whom I'll miss and am very grateful for his help. But I think someone else here deserves a toast. He came through even while fighting against his body. Bobby, here's to you." They all raised their mugs to him. He looked embarrassed. "That's why they pay me the big bucks, mate!"


End file.
